Ofsted reveals true state of children's services in Plymouth

All aspects of the department have been told they require improvement to be classified as 'good' (Image: GUILLAUME SOUVANT/AFP/Getty Images)

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Council's Ofsted report into children's work - the good and bad

Plymouth council provides services for vulnerable children and their families (Image: Stock image)

It was acknowledged by Ofsted that the vast majority of children in foster care live in stable, suitable homes that meet their needs, and they make good progress.'

The report found there has also been 'significant' progress in establishing an environment in which good social work can flourish by significantly reducing social workers’ workloads, increasing management capacity and providing a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

The council has been issued a six-point summary of how and where it should improve.

They are; the quality of strategy discussions, including records of decision-making and action plans, the quality of written plans, sufficiency of local placements to meet the needs of older children, the quality of recording of supervision and management oversight, the quality of services to care leavers, including education, employment and training opportunities and the quality of and learning from auditing of casework.

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The city’s performance was scrutinised over an intensive two week period last November which involved collecting thousands of pages of files, facts and figures and speaking with staff, managers, children, parents and carers.

The inspectors considered the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families, the experiences and progress of children who need help and protection, and the experiences and progress of children in care and care leavers.

Plymouth children's services boss - we're disappointed, and know there is work to do

The council has a duty to protect the city's most vulnerable youngsters

Addressing the findings, Alison Botham, Director of Children’s Services, said: “We are obviously disappointed with the judgement of this Ofsted inspection as since their visit in 2014 we have undertaken a huge amount of work to address the issues that were raised.

"But we acknowledge there is still some work to be done around the issues identified and we are already implementing plans to address those areas.

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“I am really pleased to see that the inspectors have recognised and highlighted a number of areas of good work right across the services we provide for some of Plymouth’s most vulnerable children and their families.